Kiss from a Rose
by simpsonman956
Summary: My first OC fanfic. A lone Assassin lurks in the shadows on a hunt to avenge his beloved. But once justice is served, what then? Inspired by Seal's song of the same name. Rated T
1. Nothing is True

**Kiss from a Rose**

**Chapter 1: Nothing is True...**

New York City. The city that never sleeps. Funny, that after two long years of searching I'd finally find him here, in my hometown. Where I'd been born, recruited, and trained by the Brotherhood. As I kneeled down on the gargoyle atop this incredibly high church bell tower, I felt a great sense of irony; That the beginning of the end of this long, difficult search would be here, at a house of worship.

Faith. How I wish faith was a luxury I could afford. For in this mad and gloomy world of Assassins and Templars, something to look to for comfort such as a belief in God would've been a nice change of pace. But alas, how could I, or any Assassin, have faith in such things? How could we after what we've seen? After what we know? The Pieces of Eden, Those Who Came Before, the Templars being in control even after over 800 years of underground war.

No, the only thing I could believe in was the Creed, that nothing is true, and everything is permitted. Ever since that fateful night, the Creed is all I have left. Once, what seemed like a lifetime ago, I had someone I could believe in. Someone who would remind me of the good and love that this world still had and that it was worth fighting for. It was then I pulled out the picture I kept close to my heart in my coat pocket and looked at it, reminiscing the time we spent together.

The couple in the picture was dressed in ski clothes, standing side by side, smiling and holding each other with the love you'd only find in fairy tales. The woman's long, white hair fell from her head underneath the wool hat she was wearing. That beautiful hair as white and as soft as the snow. Her gorgeous blue eyes, as bright and as warm as the moonlight. Rose...

Then I'd remember what happened later that night, and I'd start to cry a little.

In the years since she'd been gone, my views of the world had changed dramatically. My thoughts were no longer of the Templars, not of this war, nor of the fact that my brothers were slowly being picked off one by one all over the world. No, I thought only of _him_ and what he did to her. What that demon, Joseph Borgia, did to my Rose, my literal reason for living, the light on the dark side of me.

I sniffed and wiped away my tears. I couldn't let these emotions get the better of me, not if justice was going to be served, and justice _was_ going to be served. It had to be... for Rose. And it was all going to start here, with the meeting of my informant. I took one last look at my Rose in the picture and whispered to her, "Don't worry, baby. We're almost there.".

I then put the picture back in my pocket and pulled on my white, beaked hood from under my black, leather jacket. I looked down into the adjacent alleyway and say a wide open dumpster. As many times as I'd performed Leaps of Faith, it would be easy to jump off and land in it. As I'd done countless times before, I took a deep breath and leaped from the gargoyle with my arms spread out as an eagle and dived all those dozens of feet into the dumpster below.

My name is Ezekiel, like my ancestors before me I am an Assassin, and this is my story...

***A/N** **So what did you think? I've had this idea for a while and pretty much have the ****whole story ****mapped out in my head, but I wanna make sure people like the idea first so please R&R.**


	2. Informant part 1

**A/N* First of all, I'd like to thank Ridler for my first review! To anyone who reads this, he really is an exceptional author and I can't recommend him enough. With that said, let's dive deeper into Ezekiel's back-story with Chapter 2: Informant! **

* * *

**Kiss From ****a Rose**

**Chapter 2: Informant**** (Part 1)**

"Damn! Talk about wantin' to make an entrance!", a voice from the alley laughed. I hoped out and looked around. Leaning against the dumpster was my informant, Mickey. He was a short, black man wearing a grey hoodie, blue jeans, and a black beanie. He was grinning with a wormy sense of pride that I found disgusting. The perfect man to look to for underground information.

"What up, Zeke?", he asked, holding out his hand to shake. I ignored it and leaned against the wall next to him.

"My name is Ezekiel. Not _Zeke..."_, I replied in my usual slightly Itallian, grisly monotone**. **

"A'ight, a'ight, sheesh.", he said putting his hand down, "So why'd you call me here? What with all the heat you and yours have been under this year? This is dangerous stuff, man. Is it worth it on my part?"

"Don't worry, Mickey. You'll get your money, same as always."

"I have no doubt. Still, I think I deserve a little somethin' extra due to the danger."

He paused and held out his hand. "Fine.", I said, reaching in my pocket and pulling out an extra $50, which he promptly took.

"That's better. What do you wanna know?"

"I need information on a target I'm hunting.", I said, crossing my arms, "A man named Joseph Borgia.".

Mickey whistled and replied, "Shoot, dawg! Yo' people got you goin' after Borgia? The biggest mob boss in the country?"

"No, this is a contract killing. My brothers don't have much to do with it."

"Well your client must be paying you mint to be taken on a job like this!"

"He did offer my quite a large sum, but to be honest, when he mentioned the target's name, I said I'd do it for nothing. Let's just say, I have a... personal stake in this."

"Say no more, brother.", replied Mickey, all curiosity fading, "What do you wanna know?"

"Everything. Where he lives, who he does business with, what he's doing in New York, whatever you can tell me."

"Well, he's head of the Borgia Family, of course. He took over when his brother died two years ago of mysterious circumstances. Uhh, let's see–"

"Yes, yes, I know all of that!", I interrupted, "But what's he doing in the city? His brother was a known Templar amongst my people so I'm assuming it has something to do with that."

"How the hell should I know? I ain't that curious." Taking a hint, I sighed and pulled out an extra 50 bucks, which he very quickly snatched out of my hand. "Lemme think... Oh yeah I remember now!", the worm smirked, "Word is he's in town for the week on business. I guess he's meeting some English dude from the British Museum about buying some artifact. Head anything 'bout that?"

_An artifact?_, I thought to myself, _Could it be? If so, the Brotherhood might have to get involved after all. _

Ignoring his question, I asked, "Where's he staying. If he's only in town for the week, then I only have till then to find him."

"Man, how the hell am I supposed to know that? It's a big city, dude! And this isn't the kinda guy who's gonna be drawing attention to himself what with all the pressure he's been under lately!"

"Then who does he do business with? I'd be able to find out myself if I know that."

"Well now, I think I remember hearin' something on the news last night, but it's... a little fuzzy.", he held out his hand, expecting more money.

This was getting ridiculous, and he was starting to try my patience. So I quickly grabbed the worm by his hand and twisted it around to behind his back. Right afterwards I slammed him against the brick wall, his cheekbone cracking on impact. He then started to shriek until I released my hidden blade with a flick of my left wrist and held it to his throat, still holding him to the wall with my other hand.

"Tsk, tsk, tsk," I clicked my tongue, "You should really know better than to test the patience of an Assassin... Mickey."

"Listen man, I'm sorry! I-I-I was jus-just kidding around! P-please don't kill me, man! I'm not ready!", he was crying now, "I'm just a desperate guy trying to feed his family, that's all!"

I was really disgusted at this point. I knew full well he didn't have a family. I faked a sympathetic tone when I told him, "Just give me some straight answers, Mick. And I'll let you go."

"S-sure, man! Anything you want! Jus' name it!"

"Where can I find Joseph Borgia?"

"I told you I don't know! He's been checkin' into new hotels every day!", I snarled at him and held my blade a little close to his neck.

"W-WAIT, WAIT!", he practically screamed.

"Yes?"

"Scott McFrisbey! He does business with Scott McFrisbey!"

I pause, "The famous dean of the Fine Arts Achademy?"

"Yeah, dat's the one! He got arrested the other day! Prostitution and blackmail!", I let him go and he turned to face me, holding his broken cheek. I still had my blade out, though. Just in case.

"Go on.", I told him

"Well he...he," he was still trying to catch his breath.

"Take your time.", I told him.

"Ok.", he started, "So it turns out one of his students was a hard-core dope addict. McFrisby found out and blackmailed her. The poor girl let that sick freak whore her out for a whole year before she finally told the cops. He's out on bail now, but he goes on trial day after tomorrow."

"What does he have to do with Borgia?"

"I said he was under some heat, didn't I? Borgia orchestrated the whole thing. That way he get's the money both for he dope and from a cut of McFrisby's profits.

I sighed, retracted my blade, crossed my arms, and shook my head. _This world never ceases to disgust me, _I thought.

"That man is so freaking dead.", I said to myself.

"Well he sure as hell deserves it!", Mickey agreed.

"Thank you for your help, Mickey. Your money has been arranged to be wired to your usual account first thing in the morning.", I looked at my watch. It was midnight. "I have to go."

"Well good luck to you, you crazy mother-trucker...", he said the last part in almost a whisper.

"What was that?"

"Nothing!", the snake whimpered and ran away.

What he told me would indeed prove useful. And if one of the Pieces of Eden was indeed involved, then that meant I'd have to let the Brotherhood know. As thirsty as I was for Borgia's blood, I knew I couldn't just abandon my other duties as an Assassin. At least, not when a Piece of Eden was concerned. Walking away, down the sidewalk, I pulled my cell phone out from my jacket pocket and quickly dialed my tech guy's number. After a few moments, I heard his dry, English accent.

"Hello?", he said.

"Shaun, it's me."I replied.

"Well, well, well! If it isn't the brooding Ezekiel! How nice it is to hear your lovely voice again!"

"Hey watch it, newbie! You may be a friend of Lucy's but that doesn't mean–"

"Relax! I was only joking!", Shaun assured me. I grunted in annoyance in reply. "So how's your search coming along? Last I heard you had just taken up Borgia's contract."

"I have, but things just got more complicated."

"What do you mean?"

"My informant just told me that Borgia's in New York about an artifact."

"You think it might be a Piece of Eden?"

"That's why I think you need to get involved."

"I'm at your entire disposal! If there's any chance of getting an artifact, we have to pursue it. Especially since the Solstice is so close."

Winter Solstice, 2012. The day that the Templars plan to use a Piece of Eden to enslave mankind once and for all, if they could find one. And thanks to Altair's map taken from Subject 17, it was likely. Which reminded me...

"How are you and Lucy coming along with Subject 17?", I asked.

"His name is Desmond," he reminded me (_Whatever_, I thought), "And we're actually making some fine progress, surprisingly. Ezio Auditore's memories are turning out to be amazingly helpful."

"And Subject 16's video?"

"We've confirmed it is authentic."

I sighed. I never doubted it, but still...

"Funny, isn't it? After thousands of years of trying to figure out why we are all here, all the trillions that have died because of , or believing in, some divine purpose, it turns out man was just created to be slaves to a more advanced, probably better, race of humans."

"Well that's quite a way of looking at it. Don't get me wrong, I'm probably just as cynical as you are, but that kind of outlook seems rather depressing."

"I don't see why. All it does is confirm what we have believed and taught for close to a millennium. That nothing is true, and everything is permitted."

"I suppose.", Shaun replied

Suddenly, my phone began to vibrate. I had another caller.

"There's someone on the other line, I'll have to call you back."

"Alright, let me know when you find something out."

"Will do.", I hung up the phone and switched to the other line.

"Yes?", I answered.

"Hey man, it's me!" It was Francis. My best friend for as long as I can remember. Admittedly, I was very happy to hear his voice again. I smiled and replied, "Hello, brother. How are you?"

"Fine, you?"

"Oh, the usual."

"That bad, huh?"

I laughed. It was light-spirited people like Francis that made this life worth living, at least for a little while. Coincidentally, he ran the Bureau in New York.

"So I hear you've been closing in on Borgia?", he asked me.

"Yes," I replied, "I'm closer than ever before!"

"Excellent! So glad to hear it!"

"And I'm back in the city, too! What a coincidence, right?"

"Get out! We gotta meet up sometime, man! How 'bout we go grab a beer when you get the chance?"

"I'd like that, but I'm not sure if I'll have the time, brother. And I'm sure you got your hands full."

"Yeah, I guess you're right. It's been real bad, brother. I lost another team last week! That's 18 dead Assassins in one month!"

"I'm very sorry to hear that. Things are indeed looking grim, as of late."

"It's alright. We may be down, but we're far from out! Remember, we got things the Templar's never did; Honor, loyalty, passion, courage, skill. As long as we got these things, as long as just one Assassin is still breathing, we'll never be down for long!"

"Heh," I softly laughed, "I must say, I greatly envy your enthusiasm, brother."

"I know. But, hey, how can anyone possibly blame you for being so down all the time? I mean, when Rose–"

"Stop.", I interrupted. We'd been over this before. I told him, "It's okay. _I'm_ okay. Or at least I _will_ be okay once I have Borgia's head on a pike!"

Francis laughed, "And you call yourself unenthusiastic. See, that's what I'm talking about! It's passionate fighters like you that's going to make us come out on top in the end!"

"I hope you're right, Francis. Well, it's getting late. I'd better get going."

"Yeah, I'll let you go. You got a lot of work to do, I imagine."

"Safety and peace, brother."

"Upon you as well, Ezekiel."

* * *

**Continued in Ch. 2 Pt. 2 **


	3. Informant part 2

**Kiss From a Rose**

**Chapter 2 Informant** **(Part 2)**

I hung up and took a look around. I'd already arrived at the motel I was staying at. It was a really dirty and trashed building, but at least it gave me a place to sleep for the night. I walked in and started walking up to my room. After walking a couple flights of stairs, I arrived. My room was very small and simple, about 10x20 feet. It had a queen sized bed in the middle against the back wall. Next to it was a bedside desk with a lamp and alarm clock. On the opposite side of that was a small wooden dresser under a window, next to a heater. To the left of that was a small bathroom which comprised of a simple toilet and sink. I walked in and threw my leather coat and hood on the bed. I also undid my vambrace/hidden blade and put that on the dresser, along with my gun holster.

After that, I turned out the light and lied down. As I began to fall asleep, I was still thinking about Francis. But more than that, I was thinking about...her.

_

* * *

_

_20 years ago_

Though I was born and raised in New York City, my parents were both from Italy. They taught me to read and write, and speak Itallian as well as English. I've always preferred English, though I've always had a bit of an accent. Anyway, when I was ten years old, my parents both died when an assassination went wrong and they were shot. Francis's parents died when he was even younger, so we've both always been there for each other. He's literally like my brother and he feel the same about me. In fact, with our pale skin, black hair, and dark brown eyes, we even look very much alike. Except for he wears round glasses, and I don't and his hair's short, while mine's always been in a short ponytail.

I remember we were both trained under a wise, retired assassin who owned a deli in Little Italy. He has a nice backyard where we would train every day, all day. He was a friend of my father's, apparently, and would often tell us stories about them in the home country when they were young, the missions they went on, the lives the took, the larger number of lives they made better because of it. I usually didn't listen that much but we could tell he was a good man and we were proud to train under him

I remember as if it were yesterday that me and Francis were fifteen years old, in the yard with our swords, sparring, the day I first saw her.

"Ha! Uh! Woah! I got you now, Ezekiel!", laughed Francis as our swords flew back and forth, back and forth, back and forth.

"Oh, I think not, brother!", I laughed as my sword twirled around his and it flew off to the right. I held my sword to him and laughed. He laughed back. I then put my sword down and gave him a pat on the back.

"You sure are getting better and better, Ezekiel!", he said.

"Thank you, Francis.", I replied smiling.

I then looked and saw the bearded old man walk out with is wooden cane supporting him.

"Over here, boys!", he called over. We did so and stood before him.

"Yes, master?", I said.

"Boys, we've got a new student today. A young lady whose been transferred over here. She's going to be training with us from now on."

"A young lady?", Francis raised an eyebrow over at me, "Cool! Where is she?"

"Hold on a sec," he said, turning around. He then called inside, "Rose, come out and say hello." With that, a girl about my age walked out and stood next to him. She was wearing the same kind of plain white T-shirt and black sweat pants that he had me and Francis wear. She had fair, rosy cheeks and gorgeous blue eyes. Her hair was white, very white, and went down to just above her waist. She was the single most beautiful thing I'd ever laid eyes on. The first time I saw her, I felt as though I was struck by lighting.

My eyes went large and my jaw dropped slightly. As good as it felt to gaze upon this angel that stood before me, it felt even better to see that she was looking at me the same way. After a while, we finally came to our senses and walked up to each other, Francis following behind me.

"Hello, my name's Francis," he said shaking her hand, "If I may, it's an honor to have you training with us now.", he was trying his best to sound gentlemanly, but Rose barely seemed to notice.

"H-hi.", she replied. She was clearly still a bit distant (as was I).

"Well boys, I think you two deserve a nice, big, hot pastrami sandwich for all your hard work this week," the old man smiled, "What do you say we all go inside and have some lunch before we start Ms. Rose's training?" That sounded delicious, so we agreed. He and Francis went inside first while me and Rose followed behind. We both reached for the knob and the same time and our hands touched. It was a juvenile thing to be embarrassed at, I know, but we were young and, well, we just stood there like that for a minute or two, looking at each other, both our faces red.

"Hurry up and come inside you two! Your letting all the cold air out!", the old man yelled from within.

"Oh, sorry!", Rose yelled, snapping out of it. She ran in and I closed the door behind her.

_(A/N* Ok it's at this point things start to get just a little corny. Just a warning.) _

Over the next couple of weeks, me and Rose became very close. We'd train and eat together, we'd take jogs to the park and feed the birds, we'd race each other, free running over park benches, hot dog stands, cars, and even buildings sometimes. We'd simply couldn't stay away from each other. She became like a growing addiction that I couldn't deny. As young as I was, I wondered if it was healthy.

We would spend a lot of time talking every day (much to our master's annoyance) about how our training was coming, what our interests were, what we hoped to achieve when we became full fledged assassins, that sort of thing. In our talks, I learned that her parents had been killed as well when she was very small and that the Brotherhood had been all she'd ever known. Sort of like me and Francis had. Maybe that was why she'd been transferred over to us, I often wondered, because we all don't have anybody but each other. Francis though this too, and he and Rose became fast friends, though of course they were never as close as me and Rose were (though not through lack of trying on Francis's part I must say).

In our time together, I also learned that she was strong, tough. She had a passionate sense of justice and worked very hard every day that she might dispense it when she got older. She constantly beat even me and Francis in sparring often. But at the same time, she had a great sense of beauty, valuing the little things in life more that most things. The rainbow after a storm, the city's lights at night, the one _really _cute squirrel at the park, that sort of thing.

I'll never forget one particular night between the two of us. She'd been training with us for a few months at this point and I couldn't sleep that night. So I called over to her from across our room, "Rose, you asleep yet?"

"No, I just can't sleep tonight for some reason.", she replied.

"Well, you wanna go for a walk? I know this one place with a great view of the city."

She got up and replied, "Sure, I'd love to!". We both got on our street clothes in a hurry and snuck out the window, being careful not to wake Francis and the old man.

She followed me for a couple of blocks when we reached this one motel I knew of. It was rather high and got a great view.

"This is the place, let's go around the back. We can get to the roof from the fire escape." I led her around that way and jumped up, grabbing the ladder, pulling it down for us. A short climb and we were on the roof. I led her to the edge of the building and showed her the view. Lights were twinkling for miles in a big ocean of colors and twinkles. I smiled as I saw her beam at the sight of the ocean of lights that lay out before her. She grabbed my hand and exclaimed, "Ezekiel, it's beautiful!"

"It is, isn't it?", I agreed. Though I was looking at her, not the lights.

Still smiling, she turned to me. "Ezekiel," she said, "sometimes I think about the people in this city. About the live's we're gonna make better though our actions. The danger, the conspiracy, isn't it exciting?"

"Sure!", I agreed, "But... it's also kinda overwhelming, don't you think. I mean, there's so much to do. And training is hard enough. What's going to happen when we're out in the real world? You think we'll be good enough?"

"Of course we will! We rock!", she assured me, "And me and Francis will be there to help you every step of the way!"

I looked at her and smiled. "And I'll always be there for you.", I replied.

Suddenly, we found our faces closing in on each other. As if by instinct, we were drawn to each other.

"Promise?", she softly asked me, eyes half closed.

"Always.", I replied in almost a whisper. We then closed in on each other until our lips met.

The memory of our first kiss will be one I cherish until the day I die. It was incredible, like a firework's show going on inside me. But more than that, as the kiss went on and the passion went up, I began to feel _well, _whole. Like I'd been going though life half a person and the second half was being welded onto me. It was then I realized. I loved this young woman with all my heart, and she loved me. I had never felt so good in all my life. I don't know how long the kiss lasted, but I've never thought it was long enough. Needless to say, from that point on, we never left each other's side.

_

* * *

_

_2012, Present Day. _

When I woke up, it was 10 am. Quickly, I went into the bathroom and splashed a bit of cold water on my face. After this, I looked into the mirror and looked at my scar. It was long, white, and thin. It stretched all across my face, over one of my eyes and down to my neck. I ran my finger across it thinking, _Damn, it still hasn't fully healed._ I would tell you how I got my scar, but then I'd have to tell you of... that night. And I'd like to put that off as long as I can. When thinking of my past, the happy memories are much better to look back on, anyway.

After this, I grabbed my blade and bracer and 9mm gun in it's holster and equipped them both, right before throwing on my leather jacket and hood over them. I then ran out the door and left the motel. Then, I hailed a cab and told him to head to the Academy of Fine Arts in New York. I figured a good next step would be to eavesdrop on the students there. If their dean really is such a demon, it'd no doubt be the talk of the school and they just might know something useful. One thing was for certain, this was going to be a long week.

* * *

**Sorry I've been putting off updates for so long, but you know how it is with school and all. I hope you liked this chapter, and hope you'll join us next time when Ezekiel's investigation twoards finding Borgia actually begins. We will also see more of him and Rose in flashbacks only when they were a little older. All this and more in the next chapter, Eavesdrop. Ps, starting to see a pattern in these chappie titles? **


End file.
